


Helping Those in Need

by Shribber162



Category: Senki Zesshou Symphogear
Genre: Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:42:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26716222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shribber162/pseuds/Shribber162
Summary: Shirabe and Kirika decided to invite Maria over for dinner to help take her mind off the recent stressful events. However, things don’t always go as planned, as an uninvited guest makes its appearance while they return home from their shopping trip...
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Helping Those in Need

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> This is my time writing a story. I tried to go for something short and sweet.
> 
> I sincerely hope you enjoy it!

"We’re going to have a feast tonight!" Kirika exclaimed loudly with a bright smile on her face.

Shirabe, slowly walking next to her, gave her a small nod as affirmation. “Kiri, are you sure you don’t need any help?” she said, pointing to the two heavy-looking bags of groceries her best friend was carrying in each hand.

“Oh, it’s nothing, Shirabe! You’ll be the one cooking, so at least let me do this much!” Kirika answered proudly. “Besides, you must still be tired from all the fighting yesterday!”

“Alright, Kiri, if you’re sure. They look heavy, though...” Shirabe reluctantly agreed. “Since Maria will be coming as well, we had to buy more than usual, so please tell me if you need any help.”

Kirika perked up upon hearing that. “We need to make sure she eats a lot! She’s pushing herself a lot with all those rehearsals, right?” responded Kirika, completely ignoring her offer.

Shirabe nervously brought her fingers together, staring at them intensely. “Yeah, I think she’s still feeling responsible for what happened at her last concert. I suppose I can understand her, somewhat.”

“Shirabe...?”

“I mean, we’re in charge of protecting this city and its people. But even then, there are cases where we can’t save everyone. I imagine this feeling must be a lot worse for Maria and Tsubasa in particular…”

“T-That’s right, especially now...”

Despite their earlier excitement, they couldn’t help but feel somewhat down after this exchange. It was only natural. With seemingly all threats gone, for an unknown reason the Noise had recently started resurfacing again. Despite their best efforts, the Adaptors couldn’t always save every single person in danger. The Noise were unpredictable and they couldn’t feasibly cover every part of the city at all times, yet they continued to give their best with unwavering resolve. Each of them had their own war to fight in these times, some in battle, some on the stage. In order to be able to relax for at least a moment, Shirabe and Kirika had decided today to invite Maria over for dinner, so they could spend at least one evening together in peace and unwind from all their stress and worries.

The two girls were nearly home, passing through a nearby park. Between their dorm room and the closest grocery store it was usually about a fifteen minute walk, but they liked to take a short detour through the park, as the scenery was much nicer than simply walking through the streets, and it didn’t extend the trip by a significant amount. It was a sunny autumn afternoon and the park was filled with many people enjoying various activities, and the pleasant atmosphere lifted a bit of the gloom from them as well.

“Eeeeh...” Kirika huffed quietly under the unusually heavy load. To tell the truth, she was already out of breath before they even entered the park, but wanted to look strong in front of Shirabe. Besides, carrying both bags was her idea, she couldn’t possibly back out now.

However, her last whimper was loud enough for Shirabe to notice. “Kiri, you’re overdoing it,” she turned to her in concern.

“I-I’m fine, don’t worry about—” Before she could finish her sentence, Kirika tripped on a small rock and lunged forward uncontrollably. With a good amount of luck, she managed to pull off a miraculous recovery, no doubt owing to her natural dexterity and rigorous training, saving not only herself, but also the groceries. “Hoo, that was close,” she let out a sigh of relief.

“You’re not fine no matter how I look at it.” Shirabe pointed to a nearby bench. “How about we take a small break, Kiri? There’s still time until evening, so we can relax a little,” she smiled. “Come, I’ll help you with the bags.”

“Ooh, no! I’ve got this!” Kirika didn’t waste any time and darted towards the bench, almost like she was never out of energy to begin with. Shirabe followed right behind her.

They sat down on a small bench in the middle of a long alley leading around the outskirts of the park, Kirika put the bags down next to her. A soft warm breeze was caressing their cheeks as they sat next to each other enjoying the sun. The trees had already started dropping their leaves with one landing directly on Kirika’s forehead, but she paid it no mind as she attempted to regain her energy for the second part of their trip.

Shirabe reached towards Kirika and silently picked up the leaf, releasing it to the ground. “I told you it was heavy, Kiri…” she said, visibly concerned for her friend.

“It’s… it’s fine, Shirabe! We’re almost there, just a… little bit more.” she tried to catch her breath properly.

“I’ll help you with it after all—”

“No! This is like a challenge! That’s right! I’m challenging myself to be stronger!” Kirika argued stubbornly.

“But I don’t think groceries are the best way to train—”

Their little argument was suddenly interrupted by an audible rustling from the bushes behind them. The girls turned their heads at the same time, only to see something making its way through the branches; first they saw one paw, then another, then the entire head, and before they knew it, a cat had appeared next to them. It made its way under the bench and crossed between Shirabe’s legs, as if it didn’t even acknowledge her existence. It then turned around, its eyes fixated on Shirabe’s, and the two of them engaged in a staring contest. Neither of them looked like they were going to give up anytime soon. Now that she got a good look at it, she saw it was a rather small black cat with white patches around its throat and belly.

“Look Shirabe, there’s something around its neck!” Kirika abruptly interrupted their heated duel. If she hadn’t, they probably would have stared at each other until late night.

Shirabe snapped out of her state of heavy focus. “Eh? Oh. You’re right, Kiri. That means...”

Around the cat’s neck was an electronic ID tag, the presence of which meant it was not a stray animal, but rather belonged to someone. They stood up from the bench and started looking around for its owner, while the cat celebrated its victory by licking its paw. While there were many people around the main paths, here at the edge they couldn’t see anyone else, plus it came to them from behind. Perhaps it jumped over the fence from the street?

After a few minutes they gave up their search and returned to the bench. The cat was still waiting near the bench, but now it was rummaging through their bags.

“Hey, that’s our dinner!” Kirika rushed over to pull its head out of the bag. She then picked the cat up and looked at it pensively. “Don’t do that again, okay?”

Shirabe ran over as well. During the time they were looking around for people, it managed to go through some of the meat and other food they had bought for the evening. “Oh, I suppose it was hungry,” she sulked for a moment before regaining her composure. “It’s alright, Kiri, we should still have enough to prepare something.”

“Well, if you say so, Shirabe.” Kirika calmed down. “But what do we do with it now? Maybe we should just take it with us,” she suggested.

“We can’t, Kiri. It already belongs to someone. Besides, you know we can’t keep any pets in our dorm, right?” she shut her down immediately.

“I know, but…” Kirika attempted to plead her case further, as she didn’t want to just leave the cat here all alone, but couldn’t find any good arguments in light of the harsh reality.

“Hmm…” Shirabe thought for a while. “How about we take it to the police station, then? They could find the owner from the tag, probably.”

Kirika’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, you’re a genius, Shirabe! Let’s do that, then!” She didn’t wait for anything, picked up the animal that seems to have already accepted its fate into her hands and handed it over to Shirabe. “Here! You take it, I’ll get the bags!”

“Eh?” she blankly looked at Kirika, then at the cat that suddenly materialized in her hands, which stared at her in return once again. It wasn’t clear which one of them was more confused at this point, but they didn’t seem to mind the presence of one another.

Kirika meanwhile picked up the groceries again, which were now much lighter thanks to their new friend, and they embarked towards the park exit, with all of their hands full.

There was a police station not far from the park, so they reached there relatively quickly. The officer took the cat from them and held a portable scanning device near its neck. Kirika and Shirabe were just about to leave, since from here on it was the police’s job, and they needed to hurry home and start preparing the dinner.

“Let’s see here, male, age 3, owner... huh, this is…?” the officer seemed to have gotten stuck halfway through his monologue, which Kirika noticed immediately.

“Did something happen?”

“Oh, that is, well,” he hesitated for a second. “This cat’s owner is reported as deceased.”

“Eh? De...ceased?” Kirika asked, in case she misheard the officer.

“It appears they were a casualty in a recent Noise attack. Unfortunately, it’s something that happens frequently as of late,” he noted sadly. “But you shouldn’t concern yourselves with that, thank you for bringing it here, we’ll handle the rest.”

“I… I see.” Kirika responded drearily to this news. She then looked over to Shirabe, if she had any other ideas, but after remembering her earlier words, she realized there was nothing else they could do. But to her surprise—

“Wait, please!” Shirabe quickly turned around to the officer, successfully getting his attention. “Er, could I please see when it happened?” she pointed to the data tablet the policeman was holding. He hesitated at first, but didn’t see any reason to hide it from her, and turned the display towards her. Shirabe looked at it for a few seconds and then asked. “Um, would it be okay if we took care of it?” she said, looking like she had something in mind.

“Eeeh?” Kirika yelped in surprise.

The officer responded, sharing Kirika’s sentiment at first. “But why? We can just handle it from here—”

“No, please! I will take care of him. I promise.” Shirabe protested frantically.

“I-I suppose there shouldn’t be any problem. The cat seems to have been taken care of, all the records are in order, so as long as you get it registered within a week—”.

“Thank you, sir!” she interrupted him. Shirabe made a little bow and walked over to retrieve her greatest rival yet. The officer slowly handed the cat over and as it switched hands back to Shirabe, it let out a faint “Meow” for the first time as if to thank them. They had to stay a while longer to go through the required paperwork, but after that they were free to go.

The two of them then left the police station, both positively tired from the ordeal, but finally ready to return home with their newfound pet.

“Sh-Shirabe, what was that about? W-What about the dorm rules?” Kirika still didn’t have a good understanding of what just happened.

“Oh, um…” Shirabe started. “I-I just thought it was rather sad it had no home to return to, so…”

“I knew I could count on you, Shirabe!” Kirika responded cheerfully. “Let’s quickly bring it home and give it something to eat, it must be really hungry!”

“Alright, Kiri, let’s do that. Though he already ate.” she said, smiling happily as she held her new friend.

“Ooh, you’re right! I almost forgot!” Kirika laughed in response.

On their way home, they discussed all sorts of things, like what they should call the cat, or how they’re going to hide it from the dorm supervisors. Shirabe suggested calling him “Epsilon Saw”, whereas Kirika suggested “Dormouse”. Ultimately, they agreed on “Dormy Epsilon” for the time being. After a short walk they reached the dormitories. To prevent being spotted, they took the back entrance with Shirabe spotting the path in front, trying to avoid all the busy hallways.

After a small stealth experience, they finally reached their room, completely unseen. Overall, their initially short shopping trip was lengthened by about an hour and half from all the trouble they went through. Kirika unlocked the door using her ID and they stepped inside.

They were inside a cozy looking apartment designed after the last century. Wooden floor and shelves nicely blended together with the beige walls. Their two beds were pushed up to each other, and so were the desks on which they often did their homework together. The only thing that looked remotely out of place was a large TV in the middle of the back wall, disrupting the illusion of an old lodging. Their dorms were well equipped and included their own bathroom and kitchen, which at a time like this especially was to their advantage. 

Shirabe put Dormy Epsilon down, and after looking around and ascertaining his surroundings, he started exploring the apartment. Shirabe filled up a small glass bowl with water and laid it down next to their new tenant, who immediately used the opportunity to rehydrate himself. Kirika meanwhile started unloading the groceries, or to be more specific what was left of them. But before they could get comfortable, the entrance bell rang, startling both the girls and even the cat jumped a little at the unfamiliar sound.

“Eeh?! Is it that time already?” Kirika screamed out, turning her head to look at the wall clock next to her. The time was already 6 PM.

The school dormitory was split between various buildings around the town, and each of them was restricted only to the respective students living in their specific dorm. By default, strangers were not allowed, but the policy stated that students could invite guests over under certain conditions, provided they take full responsibility for them. As such, each dorm room had direct control over the entrance lock, and each use of this button was logged under their name.

Shirabe reluctantly went to the communicator, and saw Maria’s face on the display as she waited outside the dorms. She took a gulp and nervously tapped the push-to-talk button.

“Y-Yes?” she said nervously.

“Hi! It’s me, I decided to come a bit earlier, if you don’t mind. Oh, and I brought Tsubasa with me.

“Maria insisted I come with…” Tsubasa’s timid voice sounded through the speaker, even though she wasn’t visible on the camera.

“O-Oh, I see, well, um, sure, come in.” A couple sweat drops formed on Shirabe’s face, as she disabled the microphone and opened the dorm building entrance.

“Shirabe, this is really bad!” Kirika panicked, pointing over to Dormy Epsilon, who was just laying on the floor lazily. “If it was just Maria, we might have been able to convince her, but I don’t think Tsubasa is going to just ignore the dorm rules!”

“I-I think you’re right, Kiri. We need to hide him then, but where?” She looked around the room and tried to formulate a plan in the few minutes they had before their friends reached their room.

“How about this?” Kirika victoriously raised a cardboard box that she found stashed away from one of their past purchases, above her head. “If we put him in here, it might buy us enough time!”

“I don’t want him to stay in such a small box for the entire evening, but I suppose there’s no other choice.” she said as she ran to the kitchen, grabbing a knife. She used this knife to create some breathing holes in the box, to make the cramped environment at least a little bit comfortable, and afterwards put it back again.

Shirabe then lifted up her new pet. “Sorry about this, please wait a little bit, quietly.” she whispered as she put the cat in the box, with Kirika assisting her. He didn’t offer much resistance, as he was probably still tired from the long day, all he could muster was a wide yawn. Then they put the box on top of a shelf so that it wouldn’t look conspicuous, and they put away the water bowl as well. Just as they finished, there was a knock on the door. They both quickly calmed themselves down and went to greet their guests.

When they opened the door, they were met with the two divas face to face. “Hello, hope you don’t mind me inviting Tsubasa as well.” Maria said first thing after entering the room, waving at them happily.

“N-Not at all.” Shirabe and Kirika nervously responded in unison.

After our rehearsal was over, I thought this would be a good opportunity for Tsubasa to relax a little as well, so I asked her to come with me.” she explained.

“I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn’t let up, so… I apologize for the intrusion.” Tsubasa commented with a small bow, looking somewhat shy. She then raised her head and looked around curiously. “I have to say, this is a really nice room, it somehow reminds me of my childhood.” she said with a smile.

Her eyes slowly scouted the unfamiliar room, as she didn’t visit other people often. When her eyes set sight on the shelves, she froze. “Wait!” she yelled, alarming everyone around her. “I think someone is watching us,” she warned the others. Her formerly relaxed expression now tightened as she tried to figure out the source of this strange feeling. She took a step forward, and in response, Shirabe and Kirika took a step back, thinking their plan was now gone for sure. After all, something like this wouldn’t evade the trained eyes of a warrior like Tsubasa. The gears in their heads started turning. How would they explain it to them? Tsubasa continued fearlessly towards the shelves. “I think it’s coming from over— Ow!”

Before she could reveal the source of this sensation, a swift flick to the forehead stopped her in her tracks.

Maria sighed. “See? This is why I had you come with me. Even at an opportunity like this, you just can’t help yourself.” Her frown transitioned into a smile as she adjusted the collar of Tsubasa’s sweater. “You need to learn to relax, Tsubasa.”

You’re one to talk, the girls thought to themselves as they followed suit and sighed as well, but in their case it was from relief.

Tsubasa took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Maria, it’s a force of habit, I suppose.”

They settled down and started preparing for dinner. Tsubasa with Maria helped move the tables and chairs around in the living room, so they’d have somewhere to sit, while Shirabe with Kirika were relegated to kitchen duty.

The noises from the living room as they were rearranging the furniture had stopped and Maria with Tsubasa entered the kitchen to check up on the girls.

“We’re all done with the tables,” announced Tsubasa proudly, observing the girls, secretly hoping to learn something new herself.

Kirika was currently going through their groceries properly and sorting them out on the kitchen desk, while Shirabe had already started preparations by cutting up various vegetables. Despite their best efforts, Maria could feel a slight sense of uneasiness from them, especially from Shirabe. It was difficult for the young girls to hide their feelings from Maria, since they had spent so much time together.

“Shirabe, Do you want any help?” asked Maria with concern in her voice. “I know you were the one who offered to cook, but you probably didn’t expect there to be four of us.”

“Oh, no, don’t worry!” Shirabe blurted out. “I was just thinking that, um, maybe there won’t be enough to cook four meals, so I’ll have to go and—”

“I suspected as much,” Maria interrupted her. “Just tell me what you need, I’ll go buy it quickly and come back. I know you’re doing this for me, but think of yourself too, alright?” She then turned to Kirika, who was rather pale herself. “And the same goes for you, Kirika. Don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything.”

“A-Alright…” they both stuttered.

“Wait, Maria, shouldn’t I be the one going then?” Tsubasa tried to ask, as she felt she was out of place here.

“No, this was my idea. Besides, would you even know where to look for the ingredients? It will be faster if I go.”

“T-That is, well, o-of course I would! But if you insist...” Her voice trailed off at the end, as she had internally admitted defeat. Maria just smiled at her before leaving the dorm.

The girls remained standing there quietly, as cooking was the least of their problems. What they were worried about the most was quite literally, the cat getting out of the bag, or in this case, the box. They were forced to pick its hiding spot rather quickly, and in result it was nearly in plain sight, and if it wasn’t for Maria, they’d have been found out already. The two girls nodded at each other. There were no words between them, but they both understood perfectly. In fact, this situation was ideal. If Maria is out shopping, they just need one of them to distract Tsubasa while the other moves the cat to a more suitable hiding spot. Somewhere in the kitchen would probably be the best, as that is the least likely room for either of them to look around, especially Tsubasa.

Shirabe sent the shopping list to Maria’s phone and she went out. In a way, Dormy Epsilon had just bailed them out, because if it didn’t eat so much of their food, Maria wouldn’t have needed to go anywhere.

“S-Should we move to the living room, then?” Shirabe stammered.

“Y-You should go ahead with Tsubasa, I-I’ll just clean up a little.” Kirika immediately picked up on the cue.

“Oh, alright…” Tsubasa agreed, unsure why the girls were being so nervous.

The two girls sat down on the sofa, while Kirika started “cleaning” around the kitchen and the living room.

Shirabe let out a small sigh and broke the silence. “We were supposed to be the ones helping Maria, but even now she ended up helping us instead.” This sentence may seem innocent at first, but in this situation it, even though unintentionally, meant different things to Tsubasa and Kirika.

“You cannot blame yourself like that, Tsukuyomi,” Tsubasa responded resolutely in an attempt to cheer her up. “I think Maria is happy to help. On our way here she kept talking about how important both you and Akatsuki are to her. I am sure having you two around fills her with pride and happiness.”

Shirabe blushed a little at her remark and paused for a little bit. “M-Maybe you’re right… she is always looking out for us,” she replied after a moment, and immediately looked bothered by something, shyly glancing at Tsubasa. “I’m sorry we didn’t invite you as well in the first place. Whenever we’re together, Maria always talks about you so nicely, but somehow I didn’t have the courage to ask you as well…”

“Oh, does she now…?” Tsubasa replied, sounding mildly surprised, but she quickly collected herself. “I don’t think there is a reason for you to apologize. Despite working in the same team, we don’t get many chances to interact together, so I understand.”

Around that time, Kirika was pretending to be cleaning around the shelves. She had just picked up the cardboard box and was about to carefully carry it to the kitchen. Shirabe was doing a good job taking her attention, so it should go rather smoothly, she thought.

Tsubasa continued speaking. “It’s natural for people to have reservations about certain things. Wouldn’t you agree, Akatsuki?” she said plainly with a smile. The girls instantly froze in their tracks. Of course they couldn’t hide an animal from the most perceptive member of S.O.N.G. This is exactly what they were worried about the entire time. Now Tsubasa was going to find out about Dormy Epsilon and all their efforts would be in vain.

“T-That’s… um...” Kirika was the first one to speak, but she had no idea what she should say, and Shirabe wasn’t much better off herself.

Tsubasa stood up and started walking towards Kirika after seeing their reactions. “So I wasn’t just imagining it after all,” she began speaking. “This must be the source of the foreign gaze I’ve been feeling this entire time.”

The girls stayed motionless, with no idea what to do.

As Tsubasa approached Kirika, the box suddenly started shaking. Kirika was surprised by it and almost lost her balance. After a few seconds, the shaking stopped, and a small creature popped its head out of the box. It looked at Tsubasa, and Tsubasa looked back at it.

Tsubasa’s expression stiffened. “T-This is a…!”

Kirika started chuckling awkwardly. “Ooh, what a shock! To think there was a cat hiding in that box, ehehe...”

Tsubasa reached inside the box, and pulled out the poor cat with both hands, rising it above her head. “Oooh, it is so cuuute!” she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling like a pair of firecrackers, smiling from ear to ear, like a child receiving a long desired Christmas gift.

The girls were possibly even more flabbergasted than Tsubasa, unable to muster anything more than a confused “Eh?”

After a short while, Shirabe was the first one with the courage to ask. “You… you don’t mind?”

“Hm? Why would I mind?” she asked without even looking at Shirabe, still preoccupied with playing with her new friend, who didn’t seem to mind the attention at all. “There, there, that’s a good cat…”

“Well, that is… we’re not allowed to keep pets in our dorm, so I thought that, you know…” Shirabe said unsurely.

“Oh, is that so?” she thought for a second. “Well, I mean, do I look like a dorm supervisor? Besides, how could I be upset over such an adorable little thing?” Tsubasa laughed heartily, which was a rare sight these days, they thought to themselves. But this was still a far better outcome than they had hoped for.

Kirika and Shirabe simultaneously let out a sigh of relief. The cat meowed in Tsubasa’s grasp and started flailing around a little, it has probably had enough petting for the time being. Tsubasa in response put it down on the ground. Dormy Epsilon then went back to its original task of scouting the surroundings, from which it had been interrupted twice now.

“We thought for sure you wouldn’t let something like this slide,” said Kirika, now back to her cheerful self.

“I see.” Tsubasa pouted slightly. “I mean, I can’t say I agree with it, but I’m sure you had your own reasons.”

“Yeah…” Shirabe took the initiative to explain. “Apparently this cat lost its owner to a Noise attack,” she said as she pointed to the ID tag on its neck.

“And so, it had nowhere to go home,” Kirika finished her sentence.

“Hm, I think I understand the situation now.” Tsubasa finally regained her original self after losing her character for a minute and spoke calmly. “ Still, I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep it here. If you get found out, you’ll get in trouble.”

“We know that, but…” Shirabe couldn’t find the right words to say.

“We’ll definitely take good care of it!” Kirika shouted with passion. “I can tell Dormy Epsilon is very important to Shirabe, so I won’t let anything happen to it!”

“Kiri—” Shirabe yelped in surprise. “Thank you so much…!”

“I just want you to be happy, I’m sure you’d do the same, right?” Kirika answered happily.

“Of course!” she nodded instantly with a bright smile on her face.

“Then it’s settled.” said Tsubasa. She turned her sight to their new tenant. “So how did you find it? Does it have a name?”

Shirabe and Kirika explained to her everything about their shopping trip, how they found the cat, what they learned at the police station, how they argued about its name. They even described their stealth operation. Tsubasa listened to their explanation intently, absorbing every detail.

“I see, so you don’t know his original name,” she nodded. “Dormy Epsilon… I like it, it sounds like a name worthy of a sentinel. He will be a good partner, I’m sure.” With this out of the way, they thought everything would be alright now and they could finally enjoy the evening as they had intended. After this, it was much easier for them to talk to Tsubasa, so they asked her all sorts of things, since they didn’t get to talk to a super idol, other than Maria, of course, all that often, and they could finally give proper care to their new pet.

A few minutes later, Maria returned with the missing groceries that Shirabe asked her to buy. When she entered the room, she was met with a peculiar sight. Tsubasa, Shirabe and Kirika were kneeling in a triangle, staring at something, giggling to themselves.

Tsubasa turned around to face Maria. “Welcome back, Maria.” she waved at her casually, as if what was currently happening was a perfectly normal occurrence.

“Thank... you.” Maria responded absent-mindedly, taking a few steps forward to see what the commotion was about. In the midst of the girls she spotted a cat. It was currently laying on its back, enjoying all the attention it was getting while Maria was out shopping. Upon spotting Maria, it rolled over and stood up again. walking over and stopping in front of her. She looked back at it, and from her shocked expression it was clear she was resisting some sort of urge.

“Ahem, this, er, wasn’t here before, was it...?” asked Maria, positively questioning her own sanity.

“Oh, that’s right, we need to introduce him to Maria.” realized Tsubasa. She nudged herself to the side a bit so that she could see him properly. “Maria, this is Dormy Epsilon.” she said, pointing at him like some sort of saleswoman trying to advertise a new product.

Maria was of course confused after such a brief explanation, so once again, the girls went about describing the events of that day. They told her everything they told Tsubasa, plus the new things that transpired just a few minutes ago. Shirabe and Kirika were a lot calmer this time around, as their biggest hurdle had already been passed. With Tsubasa out of the way, there was nothing stopping them from keeping their new pet, with all the responsibilities and troubles that would come with it.

“No way.” Maria said resolutely with her arms crossed, vetoing their plan on the spot.

A loud “Eeh?” echoed through the room. This time it wasn't a unison of merely two Adaptors, but even Tsubasa had decided to join into the fray.

“W-Why not, Maria?” Tsubasa asked first, to everyone’s surprise. “One glance at them tells me they have resolved themselves to this, and to go against such a strong resolve is—”

“No,” Maria cut her off mid-sentence. “Shirabe and Kirika are behind on their studies as is. If they had a pet to play with all day, they wouldn’t get anywhere.” she began explaining her thought process. “Besides, the rules are the rules. What if they get into trouble over it? I appreciate how they feel, but I cannot allow this.”

Shirabe and Kirika wanted to say something in protest, but deep down they knew Maria was right. Still, they couldn’t give up, especially Shirabe. The poor kitty had no home to go to, what were they to do now? It would be one thing if someone could take it, but with the owner gone, the only choice was to go back to the police station and hand it to the officer. After that, they would have no idea what would happen to it. Thoughts like these instantly filled both their heads as they were figuring out the best course of action from here.

“Maria, please, let me take care of it!” Shirabe pleaded desperately. “It’s… very important to me.”

“Important?” Maria asked in response. She stared into her eyes and saw that she was being serious. “Have you met it before or such...?” she inquired.

Tsubasa and Kirika looked at Shirabe, waiting for her response.

“No… today was the first time, but…” Shirabe nervously clenched her fists as she began speaking. “It’s… it’s my fault that he’s now all alone.”

“Tsukuyomi, what do you mean?” Tsubasa asked the obvious question on everyone’s minds, as this was not brought up during their earlier chat.

“When we were at the police station with Kiri, the police officer said that the owner passed away… and I had a feeling, so I asked to see the record, and…” she stopped mid-sentence. It seemed to be difficult for her to continue, but she pushed through regardless. “It was yesterday’s date.” Shirabe sniffled, her eyes welling up a little.

“Wait, do you mean—” recalling the conversation from before, Kirika seems to have connected the dots in her head. “The Noise attack…?” she asked straight.

Shirabe just nodded quietly. From just this small nod, both Maria and Tsubasa understood what she meant. Whenever Noise appear, the headquarters notifies all available Adaptors, so that they’re all aware of the situation, and they can decide who to dispatch to that particular incident. Of course, since they were all S.O.N.G. members, they all heard yesterday’s alert, so they knew the one who engaged the Noise that emerged a day ago was Shirabe herself, as she was the closest to the scene at the time.

An eerie silence filled the room. Everyone seemed to be on the same wavelength now. Regarding Shirabe’s feelings, why she was so desperate to take the cat in. The only one that didn’t seem to understand the situation was Dormy Epsilon. He was the first one to tear apart the suffocating silence with his signature meow.

“Shirabe…” Maria followed the cat’s lead, speaking quietly and thoughtfully. “I see, but I still can’t just agree, just like that...” she empathetically said with a sad look in her eyes. “There is no reason to blame yourself for such a thing, Shirabe,” she tried to cheer her up, even though she understood her feelings more than anyone else. The last concert she and Tsubasa held ended in tragedy, and they had been working extra hard to try and make up for it. She tried to think of something to say, but the right words weren’t coming to her, so they just sat there silently.

“Then, how about I take it into my apartment?” Tsubasa suggested out of nowhere, surprising everyone except Maria, who just stared at her blankly, locked into her thoughts.

“R-Really, you’d do that?!” Kirika blurted out.

Tsubasa put on a serious expression. “Ahem. I’m merely doing what I think is right, and out of respect for your feelings. It has absolutely nothing to do with how cute it is or anything like that.”

It appears Tsubasa’s proposition lifted the spirits of everyone in the room, almost like a ray of hope had pierced everyone’s hearts.

“Right…” Shirabe noted, with a bit of doubt in her voice, but happy nonetheless. “But I think it’s a good idea. What do you think, Kiri?” she wiped her eyes with her hand, putting on a gentle smile, more fitting of her.

“I agree!” Kirika raised her arm in excitement.

However, Tsubasa’s self-satisfied expression of victory did not last very long.

“That also won’t do.” Maria, however, stepped in and instantly repelled this idea as well. Perhaps she had finished collecting her thoughts, as her eyes had regained their usual confidence everyone was used to.

“Maria…?” Tsubasa asked, somewhat confused.

“Why not? She lives by herself, right?” Kirika argued in her place.

“That’s right, there shouldn’t be any issue with that arrangement…” Shirabe pleaded, but their efforts were in vain.

“I assume you two don’t visit Tsubasa’s apartment often,” she let out an exasperated sigh. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be so surprised, I assure you.”

Upon hearing Maria’s words, Tsubasa’s head sank a little, her eyes gravitating down towards the floor, her face fading into a red hue. While Shirabe and Kirika could only have a vague idea of what she meant from what Maria told them in the past, Tsubasa herself had realized it immediately.

“I-I mean, sure it’s not always the most orderly, but—” Tsubasa sulked.

Maria shot her down immediately, resembling a parent concerned for their child’s well being. “But nothing. Whenever I am over, it’s always a mess unless Ogawa cleans up for you. How can I expect you to take care of a pet when you can barely take care of yourself, Tsubasa?”

Then she turned her attention to the cat and placed her fingers on her chest, extending her other arm outwards, like she was taking the stage for the biggest concert of her life. “I will take care of it!” she proclaimed decisively.

At this point, nobody had the energy left to be surprised, and after a bit of pondering and discussion, they agreed this would be for the best, as they all saw a motherly figure in her, befitting of keeping a pet like that despite all her duties. Maria assured them she would register the cat under her own name the next day, and that they could visit her apartment at any time. The only thing that sparked a bit of an argument was Maria’s proposal to rename the cat from what she said sounded like a “sci-fi villain” to something more suitable, but eventually, they had settled on calling him Dormie.

And just like that, that day’s adventure has come to an end. Shirabe got a large burden off her chest, which in return cheered Kirika up as well. Together they prepared the dinner as promised, thanks to Maria bringing them the missing groceries. Some of the food of course went to Dormie as well, as he was now a member of the group. It must have been a long and exhausting day for him as well, switching owners so many times. Luckily he seemed to have taken a liking to everyone, happily eating his portion, and being surprisingly patient when the girls took turns playing with him. Maybe it was partly thanks to having someone new to care for, but Tsubasa and Maria were finally able to get some guilt off their conscience as well. After dinner, they all spent some time together talking about various things, and even played some games.

Later in the night, both Tsubasa and Maria had already left, the latter with a new pet in hand, one she was very happy to have, even if she wouldn’t admit it openly. At this point it was just Shirabe with Kirika left in their dorm. They were together in the kitchen, doing the dishes. This was what they were used to doing every day, so even though Tsubasa and Maria offered them help, they wouldn’t let even them take this quality time from them. 

“Ahh, I’m beat, Shirabe.” Kirika moaned as she handed Shirabe another plate.

“Mhm, I know how you feel, Kiri.” She took it from her and carefully wiped it with a towel. “But I’m happy with how it worked out,” she turned to Kirika and said cheerfully.

“Me too, Shirabe!” said Kirika, who was just as happy.

Shirabe continued wiping the plates one by one. “I’m glad Dormie found a proper home. Looking back at it, why did we even try to hide it?”

“Oh, that’s a good point.” Kirika thought for a second. “Hmm, we were in such a hurry, and we were worried about Tsubasa finding out, right?”

“Mhm. But now I feel somehow different.”

“Different?”

“Maria was right. I shouldn’t just blame myself and try to take all the responsibility onto me.” Shirabe started reminiscing. “We invited her because we wanted to help her, but in the end, she was the one helping. And not just her— Tsubasa too. We should have been able to rely on them from the start, I think,” Shirabe slowly started showing her pent up feelings to Kirika. 

“When you put it that way, I guess you’re right,” she agreed. “We thought for sure we were goners and they’d make us take Dormie back to the police station, but then they basically argued who was going to take care of him,” she laughed.

Shirabe chuckled in response. “Yeah. And when you think about it, even though Maria didn’t allow it, she never said we should take it back, only that we couldn’t have it. Maybe she was planning to take it with her all along…” she speculated, but there was no way for her to know Maria’s real intentions. “Still, from now on, I think I’m going to try relying on the others a bit more. When I spoke with Tsubasa, I realized she’s just like us, in a way, and I think she felt the same. I mean, we’re all in the same situation, so it makes sense we would run into the same kind of trouble, I should have realized—”

Kirika suddenly leaped over to Shirabe and nearly knocked her over with her hug. “I’m just happy I was able to see you smile and laugh so much today. You’re right, we can depend on them, not just Maria, but Tsubasa and the others too, so let’s keep doing our best, together!”

“Kiri, your hands are all soapy…” she complained a little, but then turned around and softly hugged Kirika back. “Still, thank you.”

If there were another person with them that evening, someone who didn’t know better, someone unfamiliar with their secret duties, they would surely assume they were just ordinary girls living ordinary lives. While the threat of the Noise remains, this has no doubt been a long needed respite for not just Tsubasa and Maria, who to her utmost delight now had an adorable kitten to take care of, but also the thoughtful Shirabe and Kirika. In the end, being able to spend precious time together was the main thing keeping the city’s unsung heroes in touch with at least a small part of their much deserved everyday life.

* * *

The sound of a door opening resounded through the apartment. A young man wearing a suit walked inside, silently closing the door behind him and looked around the area. The usual sight he was used to was leftover food and clothes randomly laying around. After throwing out the trash, he’d collect the clothes, give them a wash and dry if necessary, fold them, and then split them between the proper wardrobes and drawers. Today was different.

Most of the clothes were already somewhat folded. It wasn’t the usual method, and it wasn’t the most efficient, but it was far more than he’d been used to. He cleaned some dust off the shelves, properly made the bed, folded a few stray pieces of clothing, and he was done. He was used to this and generally very quick, but today he managed to finish his job in a fraction of the usual time.

While he was cleaning the shelves, he noticed something that wasn’t there before— an opened book. Out of curiosity, he picked it up and carefully skimmed through it, making sure to remember the original page he started on. It seemed to be some sort of manual. Whoever was reading this was already making good progress, as evidenced by the words highlighted by a green marker on many of its pages. He tilted the book in his hand, revealing the title on the cover:

_“How To Think Like A Cat: Being Always Ready For Battle”._


End file.
